Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Sells 7,359 Shares of Salesforce Inc. $CRM

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ reduced its Salesforce stake by 2.3% in the first quarter, selling 7,359 shares and leaving it with 308,953 shares worth about $57.7 million.
• Salesforce reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.88 beating expectations and revenue of $11.13 billion topping estimates; revenue also rose 13.3% year over year.
• Despite the stock trading near $158.12, analysts remain generally constructive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $255.14.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lowered its position in shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 308,953 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 7,359 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in Salesforce were worth $57,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Salesforce by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.4% in the third quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 12,558 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $2,976,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of Salesforce by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 14,943 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $3,548,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 2,774 shares of the CRM provider's stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its position in Salesforce by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 3,152 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CRM shares. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on Salesforce from $205.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Salesforce in a report on Monday, June 15th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $255.14.

Salesforce Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $158.12 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $175.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.07. Salesforce Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.32 and a 12-month high of $276.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $129.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.16.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The CRM provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.13 by $0.75. The firm had revenue of $11.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 18.73%.The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.58 EPS. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 14.060-14.120 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 3.250-3.270 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 16th that allows the company to repurchase $25.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the CRM provider to reacquire up to 14.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 11th. Salesforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

About Salesforce

Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a global provider of cloud-based software focused on customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise applications. The company popularized the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for CRM and has built a broad portfolio of products designed to help organizations manage sales, service, marketing, commerce and analytics through a unified, cloud-first platform.

Core offerings include Sales Cloud for sales automation, Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing and engagement, and Commerce Cloud for e-commerce.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.